Armstrong 100-ton gun 

It's comforting to know that if Earth suddenly stops rotating at any point, we've got the means to start it up again.

It is even more amazing how this works when you consider the following: Not only has this been built mostly by hand, it also has been completely designed by hand. Somone thought of this and drew the blueprints and schematics by hand and did all the necessary claculations by hand. This is a true marvel of technology for the time it was built.

Alright boys we missed. Do it again.

This thing is the final evolution of a muzzle loader

They missed the opportunity to call the munitions elevator the "Shellevator"

God imagine being one of the poor bastards who spend the whole engagement working the pumps to keep hydraulic pressure up

Imagine firing this one then completely missed

This gun was first used on two Italian small battleships, not any British mounts until later. It had an interesting effect on armor design. The Italians in 1876 held a winner-takes-all armor shooting contest where they invited anybody who could make 22" armor (the belt thickness on these battleships!), which would be mounted as on one of the battleships on a realistic mockup, held on by actual armor bolts and such. The armor was shot at near the edges by the regular large naval guns of the time, circa 10", using Palliser or Grüson Chilled Cast Iron shot and then, in the center, by this huge gun. A few manufacturers brought chilled cast iron armor plates (similar to, but flat, those used in some domed land turret) but the rest brought wrought iron plates (major improvements over what could be made just a few years earlier!). Except one: The huge French firm of Schneider et Cie. brought a 22" solid mild (under 0.5% carbon content) steel plate for their entrant. This was the first time anybody had made steel armor for a warship, though experiments with steel projectiles were then in their infancy. When all of the plates were tested, none were penetrated more than deep pits by the smaller guns, though some, especially the cast iron ones, showed excess brittleness and were obviously going to fail the trials. The steel plate also had pieces around its edge crack off due to splitting starting at the bolt holes in its back. It actually fell off the mounting. It was remounted after some difficulty using some extra bolt holes that had been drilled (the French obviously knew about the brittleness). The British laughed at the French about their inferior armor. Then came the main show, the 100-Ton gun and its ~one-ton Palliser Chilled Cast Iron Shot projectile aimed at the center of each plate. They fired at the French armor last, since it had been being remounted during the other tests. Every plate hit prior to the French test had a huge hole punched entirely through as the shell broke up and acted like a shotgun behind the plate, destroying most of the support ship mock-up. The protection would obviously not protect the ship from that gun. This made the British even more jubilant, of course. Now the French steel plate suffered the attentions of the 100-ton gun. KEBOOM! The shell hit the plate and the plate literally disintegrated in small to medium size chunks flying in all direction and, of course, the projectile broke up as expected. When the smoke around the plate mount mock-up cleared, however, the British stopped laughing: Like the Mighty Casey in that Baseball poem, the British gun had "struck out"! There was no damage of consequence to the mockup, even though just a few bits of armor dangled from some bolts that were still attacked to the mockup!!! In completely absorbing the impact, even as it was destroyed in the process, the steel plate had COMPLETELY DEFEATED the British gun. The French won the contract. The British had to do something immediately or their reputation as an armor manufacturing country was "kaput". Since they could not make such thick plates from steel, they came up with COMPOUND ARMOR, which had a high-carbon (~1%) steel plate of about 1/3-1/2 of the plate's total thickness, bonded to a thick wrought iron backing plate (using solder or, better, using the iron plate as the back of the mold that they cast the steel plate in so it was permanently glued to the face of that iron back-plate). The plate, after being sizes and shaped to the desired thickness and width and height, was put into an oven and heated well above the hardening temperature and then quenched cold using a water spray. This made the steel face very hard and extremely brittle most of the way through, but the wrought iron did not change and remained able to stretch and twist under the impact of a projectile on the plate face that broke and pushed the face inward. Since the face was so hard, much harder than the French all-steel plate (which would have broken to pieces when hit by the smaller guns if it had been so hardened), it too could shatter the chilled cast iron shot or, later, shells and, though the face layer was largely destroyed near the hit, the total plate was about as resistant as the softer, tougher French mild steel plate. By 1890, though, steel projectiles had begun to be introduced and they could penetrate Compound Armor somewhat more easily. In 1890, Schneider et Cie. did it again by adding nickel to its steel and this greatly toughened its armor and made Compound Armor totally obsolete in one go. All-steel armors, of rapidly improving types, such as the introduction of chromium-nickel plate in 1894 by Krupp, made even plain nickel-steel eventually into a backing-plate-only status by about 1900.

I spent a summer working at the fort as a re-enactor and guide. It was a great pleasure learning to appreciate just how special this gun is. Your video truly completes my understanding of this mechanism. Thank you!

19th century nuclear deterrant, also great animation.

When you really have to kill that spider...

I'M MAKING THE MOTHER OF ALL OMELETTES HERE, JACK. YOU CAN'T FRET OVER EVERY EGG.

"Should we fire another round, general sir?" "Naw. Nevermind. Wars over. The Slow Shuffling Zombies overran us."

"making the mother of all guns here Jack. Can't fret over every bullet"

The largest gun in the world up until WW1. Also, the largest gun that is still around today.

Fantastic! Having been to the one at Gibraltar, it all comes together! Thank you so much for your effort and skill in putting this together!

The art of building giant and powerful guns of formidable deterrence has been passed down the Armstrong family line for generations!

"Making the mother of all cannons here jack! Can't fret over every shell!"

Thank you for making this. After Forgotten Weapon's video, even after his excellent explanation, I had trouble understanding how this gun was operated with the technology they had then.

Making the mother of all cannons Jack,can’t fret over every gunpowder. Sorry I had to

Amazing the amount of engineering that went into the operation of this gun and for the time period it served.

Making the mother of all cannons here jack. Can't fret over every missed shot.

Making the mother of all guns here jack, cant fret over every shell!

I know this post is a bit old. But glad it's still here. Always wanted to see the process for this gun. Thanks, it was pretty interesting.

With the shear detail in your videos, imagine 3D printing the components at scale and having working models! Gah, it would be awesome!

"That's no gun, that's a " Weapons system! " 🤓

Love the little details, like the washer system and electric ignition.

thanks ! it is very cool to see how pneumatics were used back in the day; I had no idea...

Very well presented, I’ve visited the fort and it has a winding path to its entrance and once you go round the last curve and see the fort straight ahead, it has a wall of slits for rifle fire if an enemy assault attack the entrance. The fort was purpose built and it was a feat of engineering getting the gun from Newcastle to its mount. Also they did re-enactments at the weekend and they would have their Red coats and helmets on. It took 3 of us to hoist the ton shell off the floor as it was so heavy. It could return fire every 6 minutes, opposed to the same guns on the Italian ship taking 15 minutes because of the confinement of space on deck!

That video is a piece of art. Greetings from the Netherlands 🇳🇱.

Nanomachines son.

Growing up in the 70s all I saw on TV was WWII footage. So crazy to see something still from the age of steel and gun cotton, but manually powered, muzzle-loading, with chains and pulleys driving it!

Your videos are amazing! I've always found mechanisms from this era intriguing, being most of them are completely alien to someone who is used to 'modern' solutions... ...and the fact that they're probably the closest we'll ever get to real life steampunk.

Its standing there... Realizing what power it beholds

Incredible. I always look at these things and think it's just a big cannon mounted to a fort wall, but there is much more going on!

Four Armstrong 100 t guns were also placed on the Italian "Duilio class" battleships and the onboard loading system was essentially the same.

Brilliant animation job. Seemed a little confusing at first, but everything was very clearly explained with a minimum of text. Very well done! Side note: I did a field school on Bermuda years ago and spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to smuggle a 10" RML home in my luggage. They've got them lying around everywhere, they'll never miss one I thought, but I couldn't afford the overweight luggage fee at the airport . . . "Sir your luggage is a bit overweight I'm afraid." "Really, how much?" "Eighteen tons sir."

I love how this Black Powder Muzzleloader is in the realm of an Art Form!

I didn't know they had a special tilted cradle for the shell and charge, I though it was just a straight one. Nice job. Well done.

MAKING THE MOTHER OF ALL GUNS HERE, JACK, CAN'T FRET OVER EVERY CALIBER

The time you spent on this must be unreal. Excellent.

Fun fact: If the charges use black powder as the propellant, then this gun is legal for all deer seasons in the state of Iowa.

Damn, great work! Amazing detail. I’m still amazed that they’ve managed to work out this entire system of pulleys, swabbing, water pressure and sprays and didn’t even manage to figure out how to do a breechblock right for years.

Armstrong,one of the worlds first international arms dealers.Also the owner of the first house in England with electricity.

Greetings from Malta ! That gun is so expensive that every year only once they fire a round in an event !!!

The designer of the gun, Sir William Armstrong also designed the hydraulic mechanism that operates London’s Tower Bridge. His house, Craggsude in Northumberland was the first in the world to be powered by hydroelectricity.

Nanomachines son!

In Gibraltar we also have a 100 ton gun like Malta. It is called Napier Battery.

Wow! Congratulations for the very nice and precise animation, by chance can you do the same to understand how it worked on the Italian battleships? The largest muzzleloading black powder cannons ever built were the Armstrong 100-ton guns which saw service with the Italian Navy and with British coastal fortifications on Malta and Gibraltar. They were purchased by the Italians first, to outfit a pair of new super battleships, each vessel having two turrets with two of these guns in each. To avoid being outclassed, the British ordered two guns for installation to protect the Grand Harbor of Malta and two more to protect Gibraltar. Today one survives at each location, and we are visiting the Rinella Battery in Malta, which was built to house one of the Maltese guns.

Amazing what they have accomplished with the tech available of that time period. Imagine how much effort goes into building this beast.

Awesome animation. Congrats from Argentina🇦🇷

The cannon fire sound scared the crap out of me

shells son,they explode in response to direct contact you can't survive this jack

Excellent. Most instructional details. Been to the fort on several occasions. Fascinating.

Wonderful! Thank you for all your work, I'm glad I suggested it. The detail is superb.

Amazing engineering, cannon could fire every 6 minutes with a maximum range of 3.7 miles and pierce up to 21 inches of armor on a ship and was equipped with an optical system for accuracy. Projectiles came in shrapnel, explosive or armor piercing and all variations weighted 2,000 pounds. Each cannon required 35 men to operate, 18 just for the ammunition. Only 20 years later, the cannons was outdated by smaller caliber cannons with longer range and a rate of fire of under 1 min.

I appreciate all the research that must go into these animations. Thank You

Back in its day..this thing was a super weapon.

Шедеврально! Спасибо за ваше старания!,😀

The drumbeat makes it suspenseful

"It was never used in combat, but every year it was test fired and the results mailed out to potential enemies"

my 2 year old daughter really enjoyed this video.

amazing, I can only imagine the work you put into this

Briliant , thanks for this . I have seen another video about thei gun but this explains how it worked so well . that mechanism of the hydraulics is very similar to how tower bridge works . Great engineering

Ohh the "neo armstrong cyclone jet armstrong cannon" It's Perfect

Seeing that beast in person is even more impressive. The entire battery is a fantastic feat of engineering.

Who would win 2 loading rooms requiring at least 2 men to assemble the round and 4 propellent bags 1 smol battery fire control boi

At a speed of 1,550 feet per second that's a supersonic 1,057 mph! Seeing a very large shell heading in your direction at that speed would deter most 19th century enemies!

Great animation of very impressive shore battery canon

I'm not sure what's most impressive, the gun or the animation, both done excellently.

Still no match for "Neo Armstrong Cyclone Jet Armstrong Cannon"

Excellent animation. Well done. Regarding the laying on to target & firing: It is most likely that "CASE III" fire control would be used. The Gun Layer would connect up the electric tube to the wires and place the tube into the vent. The Gun Layer and Gun Commander then maintain the gun on to the target traversing & elevating as given by the range indicator dials which were set by the crew members at the Position Finding cell who would predict the position of the target. The wires would run all the way back to the PF Cell where the firing battery box was placed. So once the Gun Commander had acknowledged that the gun was laid according to the information given, the telescope operator in the PF Cell would then wait for the target to be in position (allowing for time of flight, drift & winds) and then he would fire the gun from the PF cell.

Сложней этой артсистемы трудно что то представить!

what amazes me is how they managed to keep the shell from sliding down the barrel back into the elevator section

Another great animation as always! How did the shell engage the rifling of the cannon without being a hollow based minie ball?

Excellent animation on all of your featured weapons!!

Press R to reload

I think I am more enthralled by the engineering behind the fort, not the gun itself.

между выстрелами , можно было выспаться ...))

Surprisingly sophisticated and modern for a muzzle loading cannon. I am guessing that their Watkins Depression Range Finder compensated for the Coreolis effect.

Some Italian battleships at the time carried four of these guns.

Designer: Okay I've got an idea. Boardroom meeting: 😂😂😂 Designer: I did it. Boardroom meeting: .........

So, what’s that cannon’s damage per second

making the mother of all cannons here jack, can’t fret over reload time.

wait thats not senator amstong

Its Steam Punk artillery. Really enjoying these, thank you.

11:26.

I had the opportunity several years ago to actually see the gun. Amazing tech for the time.

found this in the 臨高啟明playlist HAHAHAHAHA my fellow readers

*Making the mother of all cannons here jack, can't fret over every gun!*

That's a lot of ingenuity for an insane purpose.

With how big the bloody thing is and how long it takes to prepare, load, fire and repeat, this is basically the 19th-century equivalent to the Death Star.

This a really facinating Video to see how cannons work and especially and mega Sizes

One of the educational programs does a tour of this gun. Some of that tour is animated. The tour really shows the small passageways and safety systems built into this. This video presents a very excellent overview of the system. This video with the tour would be very impressive.

So basically what your trying to say, this thing can fire the equivilant of a small to medium sized car at 472 meters per second with a range between 9,6 km and 11,2 km. Which can fire 1 round every six minutes.

Imagine, if you will, a gun so large, the ammunition is effectively manufactured on site

With this music .... unbelievable effect

Amazing job of showing how how this gun was fired.

Fascinating. Never realized all the steps and engineering needed to shoot one round

There's a lot of moving parts here. Maintenance and training was a must. The gun crews had to know what they were doing at all times or lose a limb. Very interesting to watch.